Thursday, April 16, 2009

Bird's Foot Violet is a very common wildflower in the Ozark Mountains. It's preference for rocky and dry woodlands means it finds much of the Ozarks ideal habitat. Bi-color bird's foot violets are less common than solid colored, but one still sees many of them. The cluster pictured above was growing at the top of the first hill along our road out -- about the same place where the census taker abandoned her car and decided to walk the rest of the way down to our place -- definitely rocky.

According to Wildflowers of Missouri:Flowering - April - June and sometimes again in late fall.Habitat - Rocky or dry open woods, slopes, ridges, prairies, glades, roadsides.Origin - Native to U.S. Other info. - This is a striking and easily identifiable species. The flowers are very large and the leaves are finely divided and are similar to a birds foot. The common name for the plant is "Bird's Foot Violet".